Secret Of The Below World
by Grim Demise
Summary: Three children were brought down to see a world they didn't know exist underground, but the 'visitor', who brought them down, was feared by its residents. They must helped them all to overcome the shadow they've been ruled over for so long and the 'chief' who have live along with them.
1. Chapter 1

_I. An Unusual Day_

* * *

"Caroline! Alexis! Come on or else I'm just going to leave you two behind!" A young man with short curly brown hair and clear blue eyes, he's wearing brown pants that has leather suspenders, plain white shirt and brown leather shoes. He has an empty sack over his shoulder and a trowel in his hand. He watched as two kids running down the stair, laughing as they looked excited.

"I'm ready!" A girl shorter than him has long brown hair that tied into a ponytail and same blue eyes. She wore a long brown dress with a yellow shawl on and simple brown flip-flops. "Are you ready too, Alexis?!"  
"I'm always ready!" The youngest of them all has the same look as the older boy, wearing a plain white shirt, brown pants and simply black shoes. He has a rope in his hand and a piece of paper in the other one that has scribbles on it.

The older boy raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's that?" he pointed at the scribbled paper.

Caroline, the middle child, smiled as she jumped up and down, exclaiming, "We're going to catch a fairy! Mom always talks about them! She said they always appeared in our garden! Alexis and I were planning all night on how to catch it!"

"Yay! Fairy!" Its Alexis's turns to jump in excitement. "Will you help us, Boris?"

Boris sighed as he shook his head, smiling at them, "Alright, but I will only protect you to in case evil shadow is lurking somewhere…"

"Shadows don't appear in the morning, silly!" Caroline laughed.

Boris smirked as he said, "Oh, but they do. Wherever the sun is blocked out, that's where the shadows are hiding. The place where no sun has ever shone is a place for all shadows to hide. They could be waiting, behind a tree, planning, trying to spook us…"

Alexis screech as he hid behind Caroline, "Shadows are scary!"

"Yeah..." Caroline looks pale from the told story, "Can you just stop and let's go to the garden now? Or else we changed our mind and just stay safely in this house…"

Boris laughed as he messing with Alexis's hair, "Sorry I just can't help it. You two were easily terrified when it comes to scary stories. But I'm not letting you two stay, I need a hand or two to help with the ranch anyways. It is now… what do they called it, 'Harvesting Season'?"

"Alright we get it…" Caroline and Alexis said in the same time but Alexis brightens up a bit, "But we're not going to be scared! We want to catch a fairy!"

Caroline as it's her turn to mess up his hair, teasing him about being a brave while Alexis struggled in her grip. Boris chuckles at the sight of his younger siblings playing around. He told them once again that it's time for them to head to the garden. Both of them stopped and they left the house quickly.

* * *

Following the path to their garden, Alexis was skipping along small dry puddle as he jumps into it one by one. Caroline caught up with her brother as she asked, "Boris, I'm just asking because I was really curious about it and have been thinking all night but why is our garden far away from home? Not really far, just a six minutes' walk and all but still, why?"

Boris thought for a while, "Well, if I remember correctly, the garden used to be grandma's, she doesn't want it to be moved from its place. She said it's really precious and there are definitely no arguments to disturb its rights…"

"Why is that?" Caroline asked. "It's just a silly old and small garden. What's so special about it?"

Boris sighed, "I don't know why but we're keeping her words for now. We don't want to greatly upset her, so we're going there where it rightfully belongs."

Caroline pouted and replied with a 'fine'. Boris patted her on the head as he laughed when she swat his hand away. Caroline doesn't like feeling unsatisfied with anything that doesn't make sense to her. He doesn't know how their mother gotten the fairy story just knocks off some sense from her but he's glad she actually believe in those stuffs.

They arrived at their garden but an unusual surprise have been waiting for them there, "What happened here?!"

Boris was shocked to see many holes that are dug on the ground and also where the root vegetables are grown too. He went over to see if everything is completely taken, thankfully not all of their vegetables were. But, it was a minor number of it that wasn't taken. He sighed as he gets his empty sack off his shoulder and collecting all whatever is left, "Caroline, Alexis! Seems like we wasted our time here- Caroline? Alexis?"

He looked over to see his younger siblings weren't there, "They really just can't stand still". He sighed when he continue collecting, until he got hit. "Hey!" he shouted but there was no one around. He looked down to see a well-grown potato and he picked it up. "What a childish thing to do..." he said, "But if it's their doing, then it would make sense…" Then, there's another one but this time he avoid it.

"Psst…" He looked just to Alexis peeking out of the bushes, "Boris! Over here!"

He ran away, Boris, for many times in his life because he has to deal with his siblings and their antics, sighed as he followed right behind him and carrying the sack with him as well. He reach where they're just a few meters away from the garden and into the meadow, Caroline was there inspecting something. She seems to be looking down onto something in red and she keeps on tapping on it.

"Caroline?" Boris called up to her. "What's that?"

"Well…" Caroline pondered. "It looks like a hat to me. A hat made out of rock. A red pointy hat."

"Made out of rock..?" Boris kneels down as he looked at the 'hat' his sister described. He tapped on it and it produces a small sound, "It's just clay, Caroline. This is clearly some thief' doing. Thinking it's really funny to make it as a joke..."

"Really?" Caroline frowned. "I thought it was some fairy leaving it here…."

Boris pats her head as he exclaimed, "No, it's a jerk's doing. I'm pretty disappointed too actually. But since we have nothing to do here anymore, we should go back before sunset. Come on, Caroline, Alexis…"

"Okay…" Alexis and Caroline replied sluggishly.

* * *

As they back home, Caroline and Boris talked about how they're going to a town tomorrow while Alexis was walking ahead of them. He was skipping into some dried puddle and when their house in their sight, he ran towards the house and somehow finds himself staring an odd small statue that was never there before on their front yard, "Caroline! Boris! Did we buy a small statue before!?"

Caroline looked at Boris puzzlingly, he just shrugged. Caroline, instead, went ahead, "No, Alexis. Why is that?"

Alexis just pointed at what's in front of him. Caroline went over to see a small statue depicted a small man with bald head and white beard, red top with blue overalls and a pipe in his hand. He posed as if he was running with a fearful face. "I've never seen an ugly statue like this before…" Caroline remarked.

Boris went behind her and saw the statue, "He has a bald head… maybe that hat from the garden belongs to this thing here? Well, the thief thinks we will forgive him with a 'gift' but I'm not taking that thing in or whatever it is used for…."

"I don't think it was a thief or anyone…." Caroline stated. "There are no footprints other than other than approached our door steps here."

The three siblings looked at the statue with a possible thought, but they waved it off, "No, that's clearly impossible". They both went inside the house, abandoning the small statue outside.

* * *

During nighttime, while Boris washes the dishes, Caroline was in her room sketching some scenery from her memories. The meadow she never seen before from the garden was beautiful, reddish-orange colored sky and field of long grass and the orange sunset. It was really stunning that she really wish that moment lasted forever. Thinking about that makes her frowned, she went fairy hunting with her little brother but there's no progress and speaking of hunting, who is she kidding anyways. She knows fairies can be ridiculously small that even she might not be able to see them.

As hours passed, she fell asleep on her desk with a pencil still in her right hand.

* * *

As the clock strikes midnight, Alexis woke up for no reason. He tried to go back to sleep but he couldn't. Instead, he jumped of his bed and he pulled out torchlight under his pillow. He turned it on to see the darkness if the room as he walked out of his room. He noticed the door to his sister's room is still opened. Widely he opened it, Caroline is asleep on her desk. He went over to lightly shake her awake, it wasn't much at first but then when he tried again, she woke up, "A-Alexis...?" She yawned, "Why are you here?"

"I can't sleep…" he pouted.

Caroline smiled as she sat up and was about to say something until a loud crash was heard downstairs. She grabbed her little brother's hand as they rushed out of the room and Boris was already downstairs, ahead of them. He whispered 'Be quiet' holding the trowel from before in his left hand, while hiding behind the couch in the living room. Caroline and Alexis kneel down to not be seen by the lights.

Suddenly they saw a long shadow, Alexis almost cried out a gasp then Caroline covered his mouth. The shadow was coming closer and closer, Boris held his trowel as sweat runs down his face. Then, it appears before them; a small statue they saw from outside of their house. "Huh?" Caroline and Alexis was jumbled at the sight, even Boris who drops the trowel have the same reaction like those two.

Once the trowel reached the earth and made a loud noise, the statue turn its form like a normal human. It gasps out loud as he quickly went out the house through the opened front door. "Fairy!" Alexis exclaimed excitingly, he pulled away his sister's hand and went after it.

"Alexis, no!" Both Boris and Caroline shouted at the younger one sudden retreat as they went after him and probably the statue as well. Boris didn't leave empty-handedly as he picked up the trowel on the ground and Caroline just picked up an umbrella near the door, both of them hurriedly leave the house locked with the key in Caroline's pocket of her night-dress.

* * *

A whacky chase chain has been going on during midnight, Caroline realized that the living statue before was running towards their ranch. She tried to catch her breath along the way and Boris is ahead of her. Alexis doesn't seem like he's going stop, he will if he caught that living statue he sees as a fairy. Could that actually be a fairy? Maybe, but it doesn't have wings like what Caroline has heard. But then, not all fairies have wings, right? She has yet to find out.

They went behind the ranch where the beautiful meadow was. Alexis somehow was staring at something on the ground. "Alexis!" Caroline called out as she grabbed her little brother by the shoulder, "Don't run away like that, understand?!"

He nodded and pointed at what he's looking at; there's a giant hole where it never was there during the day. She gasped as she walks backwards while her arms wrapped around her brother protectively. Boris arrived later and was also surprised by the hole, "What on earth- Was this here before?!"

Both Alexis and Caroline shook their heads but Caroline realized the position of the hole is, a few meters away from the ranch, "Isn't this where we found the red pointy hat?"

Boris shrugged looking unsure and all three of them looking down into the abyss of the tunnel, feeling absorbed by it. Suddenly, something shady crept up behind them and pushes them in the abyss.


	2. Chapter 2

_II. The Underground Mine_

* * *

Caroline groaned as she looked around, there's no light so she can't see well in the darkness. She stood up and her hand was on the wall but she quickly pulled back, it feels like dirt. She looked at her hand; there are black tiny spots so it's actually dirt on the wall, or the whole wall is dirt. She looked up to see a hole and the starry sky out of her reach. Then, she remembered being pushed along with her brothers, "Boris! Alexis! Where are you? Can you hear me!?"

"Caroline!"

That's Alexis, she thought. There are only two paths but she heard from the right so she went to that path. She keeps on slipping on the mud and there are many stones she almost tripped over, she can finally see the light but then she came in halt when she noticed a stone stuck in the wall shining. She take a closer look at it, tried to pulled it out and succeed. The stone was colorless and has many faces of the surface, it looks like a gem.

"Caroline! Help!"

She flinched at the shout, now it's Boris. She shoved the gem in her pocket and ran after the voice. She can see two silhouette getting closer and closer, when she finally arrived at their destination, she didn't expect hundreds of little people, that looks like the living the statue they've been chasing, surrounding her brothers. They don't look like they're going to attack them; they're keeping their distance from them.

"Caroline!" Alexis exclaimed in happiness as he pointed at them, making the other shook a little, "They're real! They're fairies!"

"They're small, like what mom said…" Boris added.

Caroline eyed on them, she spotted the one they've been chasing. The one with bald head and the red hat was in his hands as he looked terrified. She tried approaching him but he just step backwards until the others pushed him to the front as he stumbled down. He looked up to meet Caroline's gaze, his mouth is stuttering. Caroline pulled out the gem from before as she showed it to him, "Don't be afraid. Here, it's for you. Think of it as an apology gift for calling you 'ugly' back then. I didn't know you're actually-…"

He stared at the gem with curiosity as he swiftly takes it from her hand and showed it to others. All of them were looking at it astonishingly while they're trying to pry it off of his hand. He covers it before other can take it, he looked at Caroline, "T-Thank you…k-kind one… This here… is a special one... We never see one before….so my humblest apologies. For intruding your territory…"

"He talks!" Alexis suddenly shouted and the others quickly went backwards in fear.

The one with Caroline clamed them down, "Do not fear, everyone! They mean no harm! They're here... because of _them_". Suddenly they all whispered to one and the other as he continued to speak out loud, "Yes, I saw them with my own eyes! They're coming again! We must be prepared or we will be in danger! These people are innocent and we must give them a shelter to hide, when _they_ arrived."

Other hurriedly scrambled away, three people quickly went with spokesman, "M-My name is Morris…the leader of them all! We must move, quickly!"

Morris quickly went ahead of them as well as the three others of his kind, Caroline and her brother followed them lastly as something behind them have been catching up. The way along has been getting bumpy but it became gentle as they reached another destination. A large chamber where there are a lot of the residents scurried around pushing carts everywhere but all goes into one same location which is in the middle. They throw everything to empty the carts, all looks like that gem that Caroline found earlier. "Quickly! Throw whatever you find!" Morris ordered them around.

"Over here!" Morris shouted at them, pointing at small space where is hidden with a small wooden door. Caroline grabbed Alexis by his hand and went in it followed by Boris lastly. The door closed shut and there's a small peep hole on it. Caroline look through it, they're still emptying the carts they have which made a huge mountain of gems. And then everything turned silent.

Morris the leader stood in front of the door along with the other three who followed him. The others went into hiding, some stayed.

Then, the burning torches that were lit up on the wall suddenly burned out. There was a strong gale blew in the chamber that Caroline have to look away from the peep hole to shield her eyes. After it calmed down, Boris, instead, look through the hole. He saw something moving but its way above his eye level. Then, it stood but it's not a person or anything, it looks like a mass of black cloud. Its misty hand ran through the gems and all of the sudden, it formed into countless figures. All of them took off and flew around the chamber, scaring the others with its wicked laugh and eerie voice.

Alexis, in his sister's protective arms, almost cried out in fear. One of the figure looked at their direction as Boris immediately pull away from the peeping hole. It was approaching them when suddenly it ran off. All the figures suddenly surround the pile of gem and left without any trace, taking all the gems with them. All the residents went out of their hiding place, looking relief. The wooden door opened as they quickly left their hiding place as well, looking uncomfortable.

"W-We apologized... b-by the sudden interruption..." Morris explained carefully to them, "But it's for a good cause! If we blocked them off, we wouldn't want to know what those shadows will do to us!"

"Shadows…?" said Caroline and Alexis at the same time, "They actually exist..?"

"Y-Yes! Oh yes, they do!" exclaimed Morris putting on his red pointy hat. "Shadows, they exist everywhere. Where negativity was kept in by will! Shadows are our form of gloomy and furious emotions. The more you feel down, the more they grew until they're huge enough to leave on their own! They will keep on multiplied by the same person, t-they can do that!"

Alexis and Caroline looked at their shadow, when the torches were lit up again, and quickly get closed to each other in fear.

"I-It's okay!" Morris smiled nervously. "Your shadow... They're okay! They're…. just hollow, that's all…"

Both of them nodded and looked at their brother, Boris kneel down to have a better view of Morris, "Just who are you guys? I know all of you couldn't possibly be statues…"

"We're called the 'gnomes!" One of the residents said and all of them began to cheer and talk at once. "We lived underground!" "Yeah and we collect treasures!" "And guard them too!" "Yeah that's right!"

"Easy n-now!" Morris calmed them down. "Let me do the talking now, everyone!"

"Gnomes..?" Boris repeated. "Is that what you guys are?"

"Yes!" Morris proudly replied. "As they already said, we're earth-dwellers meaning, we lived here. This is our home! And here, we can do our job as miners! Every morning, when the sun rises, we mine for gems like what the young girl found!" He pulled out the gem from before and showed it to Boris. "Here, we called them our 'treasures'! They represent our hard work and source of our joy! We protect them with all our might..."

"Then, why do you let the shadows take them if you all were protecting them..?" Caroline asked.

Morris changed his expression from cheerful to miserable, "Like I said, the shadows, they're too strong to us and, we can't actually touch them. Our hands will go through them like air and if we resist them, they will crush us. They don't like to be ruled over, except for one…"

"Except?"

"The only one who could resist them and controlled them, with strong sentiments that shadow can't even fight back. We have a name for him and only, 'Shadow Monster'. A monster that masked himself with shadows, not seeing his true self. He was once a human, but all the rejection he had for himself caused his shadow to grow larger. But he's different, the shadow feared him like his will is bigger that it expected. To mask himself, he controlled his shadow and used it as his disguise…"

"A man who became a monster that attacks anyone as it pleases with its own way…" Caroline muttered. "Just like what mom told us…"

"Caroline, I'm scared…" Alexis whined as Caroline held him closer.

"You have nothing to fear, young one…" said Morris. "The shadows won't be back…until the next new moon is up. There will be a huge mass of them coming than what you saw just now…"

"But the next moon is in a month!" one of Gnomes said out loud and others agreed with him. "We should get chief!" "He can help us!" "Yeah, he can stand up to him!"

Angrily, Morris took the nearest pick-axe and threw it at them, "You should know better he's in no position to oppose him! What on earth do you think he and our chief is!? Do you think he can fight him, you all should think twice about it!"

All of them looked down, muttering and looking ashamed of themselves.

Morris puffed and felt a slight tug on his shirt, he looked back to see Alexis nervously staring down at him, "W-Who's the chief…?"

He placed his hand onto his and smiled, "Our leader…"

"But aren't you the leader?" questioned Caroline.

"Yes…but he's the true leader of all of us" Morris explained. "He's our creator. He creates us; he made us from mud and made us firm by the sun. And by night, he adds a bit of…. 'Magic', you can say to make one living gnome...I only have the potential to lead while he's our chief by creation…"

Again all the gnome cheered until they stopped when Morris threw another pick-axe at them, "There, that should keep them down…Now where was I… Oh yes, you must meet him now! He must know you're here!"

Morris rushed ahead as he grabbed Alexis and Caroline's hands and guide them to another path, Boris sighed 'Unbelievable' and followed them lastly along with others on his back.


	3. Chapter 3

_III. The Chief_

* * *

"W-What's the chief like?!"

Caroline asked but she thinks she shouldn't with all the running Morris made them doing. For earth dwellers, they can move easily underground without any problems on stepping or tripping over small rocks like they're moving through air.

"Oh, he's a terrific chief!" exclaimed Morris happily. "He cares for all of us! He doesn't like to go out in the sun like us and rarely talk to anyone beside me, the leader!"

"Why? Is he a kid or something?" Boris snorted.

"Careful what you said, young man!" Morris warns him. "He can turn you into stone if you must know!"

"Okay, I'm absolutely terrified of him right now…"

"Hah!" Morris exclaimed. "Gotcha'! I'm just messing with ya' head, young man! Like I said, the chief is a kind-hearted man! He would never dare to hurt innocent people like you all!"

"That's good. Not hurting people like you did with axe is good news…" Boris sighed in relief. "I get he can do some trick on you guys to look more… alive…. But is there anything so special that you wanted us to meet him..?"

Morris stared at him, smiling widely as he said, "Our chief… is actually a human!"

"What!?" Caroline and Boris shouted at the same time. "Really?!"

"Yeah, how else we are made? By one of our kind?" Morris asked, not really wanting answers from them. "No, no, no, we can do that but we can't make them moving. It's not… that simple one might say. Our chief has that special gift and no one knows how, even I don't know! Ha, it was such a curiosity gotten over us!"

"Um..Morris..?" He snapped out of his moment when Caroline tapped his shoulder from behind. "Are you going to take us to meet the chief?"

"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Morris. "I've forgotten about that. Well now, it's right in front of us actually!"

Morris showed them the huge wooden door that has swirly vines going around them and it securely wrapped around the knob. There's paintings on the door, a figure with a mantle scaled-cape has some kind of light wave going around him and surrounded by thousands of gnomes.

"I didn't see that there before…" mutter Boris.

"As a matter of fact… neither do I!" Morris laughed. "Looks like the chief knows about you children and 'tremendous entry' already. Guess he can't wait to meet all three of you! Well, the chief loves to surprise us, just to know that…"

"But how would that door open… it's too far up…." Said Alexis pointing the knob.

Morris scratch his cheek as he tried to observed carefully at the door. His eyes darted left and right and every direction and eventually, he just knocked twice on the door and it opened, "Ta-da!"

"You have got to be kidding me…" sighed Boris with Caroline and Alexis agreeing what he had in his thoughts.

* * *

"Careful, look out for the branches…"

"I don't quite understand this…" said Caroline as she went below the tree branch. "Isn't a chief supposed to have a… really big, clean and fancy place for himself? Why would the chief of gnomes want to live under a big tree that mysteriously grew branches underground and roots?"

"Ah, so you're the child with big words, eh? Alright, listen!" Morris holds them up a bit. "Listen, Caroline, wasn't? I know, you have the wisdom, Caroline. But I'm afraid to break it to you….we have no idea what do you actually want from us, this is how we always live like! There's no planning or anything! We lived freely however we want! Unless the shadows are here, that's one thing we should take a look out…"

"You're not helping me here…" Caroline frowned and felt a slight tug on her dress. "Come on, Caroline! We don't have to ask them about stuffs you only care about!" Alexis whined. "We get to meet the chief! I'm sure he's a nice guy!"

"You're sure I'm a nice guy?"

Morris gasped as he looked behind, and his wide mouth replaced with smile. It was a young man, looking not really like an elder, probably a few years older than Boris and their height difference has shown a gap to it. He has a mantle that looks like it made out of green leaves around him, he has a light brown tattered shirt behind the mantle, white trousers which is also tattered in the end and he's also bare-footed. He has brown leathered gloves and somehow he has something tied around his waist that hidden behind the mantle. His messy red hair and azure blue eyes shone in curiosity, freckles over his face that shows his ingenuous look.

"Chief! You show up quite earlier as suspected!" jumped Morris.

The chief chuckles, "You always suspect things you don't, Morris. I know that habit of yours…"

Morris stops jumping as he started to laugh from embarrassment. He pulled out a gem that Caroline gave to him and showed it to him, "That girl, Caroline… she found this…. What do you think, Chief?"

Caroline can hear him gasped as he takes a closer look at it with gleaming eyes, "I thought these were never found around here anymore…"

"It seems they didn't take every last of them! We're in luck, Chief!"

The chief nodded. Morris held out his two hands that have the gem on his palm and the chief gently took it away and put it in his pouch which was tied around his waist. He looked at Caroline and her brothers as he spoke, "I would like to thank you for bringing this to us. It was one of the kind treasure and you're all welcomed to our territory…"

"That's great but…" said Boris. "We kind of just stumbled into Morris and our little brother, Alexis, started to chase him so we have to stop him and eventually, we fell into a hole…. So, is there a way out here maybe?"

"Aww…are we leaving…?" Alexis whined. "I don't want to leave yet!"

"I agreed with the little one, you can't leave yet." Said the chief. "Right now, the shadow can still be lurking out there until dawn…"

"So you do know they're here!"

"I'm always aware of their presence even from afar…" the chief cleared his throat. "Plus, if I was there when it all happened, well, you can say they're not 'too fond' of me being there…." He sighed.

* * *

The chief asked Morris to show Caroline and her brother to one of the gnome's quarter. He managed to convinced that the soil and roots are completely sealed behind stacks of rocks tied together using a strong rope. While Morris have trouble to get Caroline and Alexis to bed, Boris was with the chief, having a small talk.

"So... you're the chief…"

"I believe that's what Morris has already told many times..?"

"And you're a human… why is that?"

"Why is what?"

"I mean…" Boris sighed as he tried to explain. "You're a human… why do you make them? Those gnomes I mean, you can leave on your own since you said so yourself that we can't leave when the shadows still out there. So why do you stay?"

"That…" The chief looks worried but he covered up with a smile. "It's nothing too serious but it's something that I couldn't tell right now. I can leave but only by night and never by day. And I made gnomes because they keep me company plus… it's the only I can do in my entire life…"

"Well, I kind of get it on the gnome part…" Boris scratched the back of his head. "But not much about the leaving part, why can't you leave in the morning?"

The chief slowly went back as he looked to his side, "If you want to know that badly, then in the early, morning, come and see me. I will show why, but don't so much to get this word to other gnomes or your family…"

"I won't..." Boris promised, though he doesn't quite get what the chief means.


	4. Chapter 4

_IV. To Start It Off_

* * *

"Chief?" Boris went to the same place he talked with the chief last night but no sign of the originator anywhere. He managed to sneak out while the others still asleep and he almost got himself completely lost until he remembered the similar pathway from last night. He shrugged and was about to go back to the quarter when a small rock hit him on the head, "Ow!"

"Psst! Over here!"

Boris looked up to discover a huge hole on the ceiling and the chief looking down at him. He rolled out the ladder made from vines as he said, "This way!"

"Hey, wait up!" He struggled to get his feet on the wobbling vine ladder, "This isn't any kind of ladder that's easily to climb on!"

* * *

"At least wait for me until I free myself!" exclaimed Boris. He got tangles a few minutes ago and has to undo everything without the help of the chief back there.

"Well… a man go to learn everything that's new to him, kiddo'" the chief chuckled.

Boris grumbled as he takes around their surroundings. They're in the same field from yesterday now; he can see their ranch from afar. "So what now…?"

"You were curious why I don't leave in the morning, right?" Boris nodded at that statement. "Well… watch this…"

The chief hid behind the tree but he sticks his left arm out in sight. Boris was bewildered at this but he decided to quiet down with questions for now. He can see the sun rising in the horizon as it ray shone brightly across the field. He looked back at the chief who has a concerned face. As time passes, he can hear crackling sounds. His eyes widened when he saw the chief's hand turned grey-ish color as he pulled it back and hid behind the wood.

Boris went over to see the chief's hand went back to normal. "What was that!?"

The chief sighed as he said, " 'Firm by day', that's what Morris told you. It's what people called 'adaption'… once you created something… it took a part of you and become used to it… When I created the gnomes, it took a bit of my nature into theirs as long as they live. That's why Morris didn't move an inch when you met him during the day..."

"You mean, when he said 'firm by day', it actually meant turn into stone?" Boris exclaimed. "H-how can you turned into stone when you're a human?! I mean, I know we can't do that since I'm moving right now but how can you….. I mean, why you..?"

"It's something else that's actually serious than this….." The chief glared at him. "And you don't need to know everything because it's not your right to know it all. I don't fully trust you yet…."

Boris bit his lower lip as he nodded. He leaned on the other side of tree, facing the sun and slowly sat on the ground, "So do I actually. Morris said, you're a human and you act like one yet you don't work like one. I mean, magic in order for gnomes to be created? Turn into stone when the sun is out? What's with that?"

The chief sat down, facing the gloom forest, "I don't even know what I should call myself. I only look like one yet I feel different with everything I can do. I'm not a clever one or probably even older than you by any chances than one…"

"What?"

"Ignore that, I don't know why I said that, it's nothing…" he sighed. "The thing is… I've been living underground for many years passed and before the gnome, there's always that crescent moon keeping me company…"

Boris looked up to see a faint image of the half-moon in the sky, "The moon, really?"

"Yes... only the moon…" muttered the chief. "There's something about it that I couldn't understand for many years. When I see the moon with no hints of its light or its white surface, completely darkness, I felt secured about it like there's nothing to worry about it. But when the moon reveals itself, I was in pure terror yet I don't know why. My life revolves around the moon's action before, to choose whether it's fine to be safe or not, it's what I used to do…"

"So you… 'talked' to the moon…?" asked Boris. "Like there's a conversation going on to warned you about the shadows?"

"No… we don't talk…. I don't think I can talk directly… it's a faint thing to hear what it said…." Said the chief. "Like a few days ago, the moon said something about 'new guardian' or something but it doesn't ring a bell thinking why because it's not my business to hear things that I'm not included…."

"So you can 'hear' him…?"

"Mostly like that…." Sighed the chief. "I can't talk to him but I can picked up what he said only by a little. 'Why is that', is out of the question because I don't know how it started out…."

"Then how do you find out that you can make gnomes after all that…?"

The chief stood up, "I will tell you that some other time, the others might have already awakened by now…"

He left into the deeper parts of the forest as Boris also stood up and followed him behind.

* * *

In deeper parts of the forest, there are broken twigs on the ground as the leaves on the trees look so dull or the tree has shed all its leaves. The forest has nothing but old, twisted-looking trees that gives out a creepy feeling.

"H-Hey…where are we…?"

"The Hollow Forest…." Said the chief. "Supposing to be a perfect place for shadows to hide forms the sun but surprisingly they didn't chose this as their hiding place…"

"Why is that?"

"Because there's another inhabitant occupying this place…"

"Oh great, another weird thing I don't know about…" Boris faked a laugh, "What are they, if you can tell me that is…."

Suddenly there's rustling noises behind the bushes that Boris yelped and his behind the chief. Slowly approaching them was group of small green creatures with point nose and ears wearing rags around them. They all held similar things like small rocks or twigs.

"They're called 'Goblins'…." Said the chief. "We have so far not a bad relation between Gnomes and Goblins…"

"W-Why they wouldn't get along with each other….?"

"Because they steal treasures and we keep them under our protection, that's why…." The chief sneered.

The goblins glared at them and growling viciously until they heard a shout, "That's enough!"

Emerging from the biggest tree of the forest, was cloaked figure with a long wooden staff with something white tied around its ends, the goblins quickly scurried back form where they emerged from as they left the chief and Boris alone. The chief and the cloaked figure soon faced each other as the both greeted, "Glad to see you, old friend…"


End file.
